Cork’s €80m private hospital awaits green light from planners

AN €80 million healthcare project that will provide 350 construction jobs is set to get under way in Cork city in September pending the approval of An Bord Pleanála.

The 100-bed private hospital was granted planning permission by Cork City Council last week, subject to 19 conditions, including a €1 million development contribution. The hospital will employ 300 people in permanent positions, according to a spokesperson for developer O’Callaghan Properties (OCP).

The spokesperson said a healthcare operator is on board to run the 140,000sq ft hospital, which will include six operating theatres and 20 consulting suites. He also said hospital consultants were “signing up” to operate out of the new hospital.

The project has been referred to An Bord Pleanála and a decision is due in one month. The hospital is one of three new private hospitals planned for the city. The Sheehan Medical Group announced last month that it is to open a 135,000sq ft, €90m private hospital at City Gate in Mahon next spring. The building is already constructed and has planning permission. The hospital is scheduled to open on April 19, 2010.

A third project, already greenlighted by An Bord Pleanála, is proposed under the Government’s controversial co-location plan. The €250 million Beacon Medical Group private hospital is due to be constructed on the Cork University Hospital (CUH) campus, pending the Health Service Executive (HSE) signing the co-location contracts. Final design will not take place until the contracts are signed.

The OCP hospital will be built on a two-acre portion of a site on Lancaster Quay, Western Road, on which a four-star hotel for the Jurys Group and 100 luxury apartments have already been built.

According to OCP, the plans have received the backing of major national and international healthcare operators, including The Health Partnership which has been involved in the development of the Beacon Hospital in Dublin and the Whitfield Clinic in Waterford.

The Cork project, designed by architects, Henry J Lyons and Partners, is also being supported by a successful international healthcare operator, backed by a major European private equity fund, according to OCP.